Sales Renewal’s small business marketing solutions grow your leads and sales through better, more cost-effective marketing and sales-enabling technology. They both begin by developing a comprehensive, integrated marketing plan specific to your business and then provide and manage all the diverse people, expertise and tools needed to implement your plan and grow your revenue. Visit us at http://www.salesrenewal.com/?sra=190608.

President Donald Trump could impose U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports as early as Thursday afternoon in Washington. His plan to do so has already rattled financial markets, as investors try to gauge the economic and geopolitical fallout. Trump himself has hinted the measures, initially billed as sweeping and severe, may be watered down for allies.

Sales Renewal's insight:

Understanding how new tariffs will affect your bottom line is your first order of business. Once the dust settles, you need to ask how the fallout may affect your customers, and how will you communicate any changes to them? Effective messaging is key to maintaining positive relationships with customers (and vendors) and that messaging is part of your larger marketing strategy.

We encourage our clients to plan ahead (months, if possible - though in most cases, time is a luxury we don't have!). The goal is to make sure they are managing their customers' expectations and positioning their product and service offerings properly, so any price increases (or other negative changes - like more paperwork or longer lead times) can be considered in light of all they offer their customers. Thoughtful planning and Integrated marketing services help B2B and B2C organizations ensure that their overall messaging, service offerings and pricing strategies continue to satisfy both internal and external customers, even when there are potentially disruptive changes in the marketplace.

Need help with your marketing strategies and messaging? Contact us to schedule a discussion about how we can help.

Uber announced the launch of a new digital tool meant to book rides for patients who need assistance getting to and from their appointments.

Sales Renewal's insight:

Know thy market...

Uber and Lyft have both recognized a need (Baby Boomers and many others who need reliable rides to doctor appointment) and have tailored their services to meet customer needs (care providers pay the transportation companies, and patients don't need smartphones to schedule the rides) but there are still plenty of operational details to manage (hello, HIPPA). What kind of new market opportunities exist for your business? Our Blueprint provides an in-depth analysis of your competitive position, marketing strategies, and online and offline presence. If you're considering introducing a new product or entering a new market, start with a good plan. Contact us to find out how a Blueprint can help you increase market share and revenue.

No budget for professional product or corporate photography? Tips to get better business images now, before you can afford a professional photographer.

Sales Renewal's insight:

A little bit of patience, some lighting enhancements, a can of compressed air, and a plain white sheet of paper can make your products look a lot better - even when your budget calls for the DIY approach to photography.

Sometimes you need images of your employees at work- and a professional photographer isn&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;t around (or in the budget). This tip sheet offers advice on getting good images of employees in your workplace, for use on your company website or in your marketing communications.

Sales Renewal's insight:

On your website, in social media, press releases, and myriad places, you can enhance your brand by showing your employees at work. Make sure you show their (and your) best side!

Before today’s age of intelligent services, families used to ask, “Where should we go eat?” Today, that where is now a what because how consumers decide where to eat has changed. Consumers now search for whatever they’re craving (whether it’s Mexican food or pizza) over twice as often than the name of a restaurant itself — …

Sales Renewal's insight:

Are you hungry for some recommendations? Yext says you need a steady diet of advice on not just what to eat, but where. It's true that reviews are extremely important in influencing prospects' buying behavior (and not just regarding eating out), but there are many other factors that drive customers to your business. Your marketing program, like your diet, should feature a variety of different items.

Make sure you're feeding your funnel all it needs. Contact us to review your current marketing programs and to find out what you might change to fortify your 2018 sales.

Customers on average paid about 85 percent of the suggested price, which Panera said was "a wonderful statement about humanity."

Sales Renewal's insight:

An intriguing pricing model proves successful, to a large extent, but not enough to stay open in the face of rising rent. Creative pricing strategies in retail and service industries provide much food for thought.

Registered ONWARD attendees had exclusive access to attend our first annual Partner Summit. Held at the New York Stock Exchange, this half-day event was open to Agencies and Yext Partners offering Yext to their clients, and featured speakers from Google, Snapchat, Search Engine Journal, Convince & Convert, and others who dove deep into th

Sales Renewal's insight:

“No one says ‘let me tell you about a mediocre experience I had.’”

That's what Jay Baer told Yext partners at Onward 17 in November.

Jay is the author of "Hug Your Haters" and a proponent of of listening to your customers (whether they're happy or not). And while we agree with him, we think collecting information on the mediocre is OK - especially if it is an important part of your service, it can (and probably should) inform your marketing message.

As an example:

Maybe your customers don't complain about your delivery service because you get it right so often, that's exactly what they expect.

Ho-hum? Hardly. "Deliveries You Don't Have to Worry About" is a message worth sharing with customers and prospects.

We're not taking exception to Baer's statement, just augmenting it with the fact that that collecting run-of-the-mill information from your customers is as important as collecting the exceptional. How do you stay close to your customers? If you'd like to get more bang for your buck from your Yext account, or are looking for a more robust program of review management, contact us. We can help with that important piece of your overall marketing strategy.

Snippets and meta descriptions have new character limits, and it's a big change for Google (and us SEOs). Learn about what's new and what it means for SEO in this edition of Whiteboard Friday.

Sales Renewal's insight:

Longer character limits for both phone and desktop are good for searchers. Could there be a downside for marketers, though? The answer: Meta data must be written for your prospects, not for search engines ... and that's nothing new!

WordPress claims slightly over 60 percent (up slightly from November 2015's number of 58.7 percent). The nearest competition? Joomla with 3.1 percent market share (up from 2.8 percent). Drupal is also up from 2.1 percent to 2.2 percent.

Sales Renewal's insight:

As we've been saying for a while, WordPress has won the war for website software dominance: it is the server software for 60+% of all web sites. It's worth pointing out though that that the data is skewed a bit because WordPress is often used by less popular, less sophisticated sites so it's dominance in the top 1000 or 10000 sites is likely far less.

Following a slowdown in e-commerce sales over the holidays, Walmart today is readying a new strategy to attract online shoppers with an increased focus on..

Sales Renewal's insight:

Wal*Mart, Amazon and Target are busy providing retailers, brand managers and and analysts with much food for thought and new business partnerships to study. What lessons can small businesses learn from these industry giants?

Do you know all the ways that online reviews impact your business? Explore the top 3 ways reviews can help your business reach more consumers.

Sales Renewal's insight:

Most people know how powerfully online reviews influence buying decisions. What many don't know: review sites differ tremendously in terms of how powerful they are. See our blog to learn how your reviews can work harder for you.

You’ve found a product and created your online store. Now, what? Once you’re up and running, it’s time to start driving traffic to your store and closing sales. Whether you’re trying to make your first sale or you’ve been open for business for a while, it’s always good to find more ways to promote your products.

Sales Renewal's insight:

Of the many topics covered here, most have one thing in common: You need good images to promote your products and services! Read it and then, check our blog for recent posts on how to get better images of your products and your people at work.

The early days of the federal government shutdown won’t slow the American economy much, but that could change if the impasse drags out.

Sales Renewal's insight:

Whether they're real, weather-related storms or storms created by political turbulence, temporary but significant events like the US Government shutdown can affect your business. The more managers are able to focus on their core business role, the better able they are to adjust as necessary to weather the storm. Or better, to take advantage of changing conditions! Do you see opportunity in this kind of news? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Interruption as Sales Opportunity - Yay or Nay?

You see a sales opportunity. Your customer sees an interruption. How to make the most of these touchpoints?

Sales Renewal's insight:

Product updates are a natural customer touchpoint. A necessary notification is also, obviously, an opportunity to ask for a new order. Do you use those opportunities wisely?

Three Things to Consider:

To your customer, it's an interruption. Don't ask for a new sale unless your product update (or other reason for the interruption) offers real value, like useful new features or protection of the customer's initial investment.

Sure, it's an opportunity to ask for a new sale. It's also an opportunity to ask for feedback. Pick one.

Or maybe, consider a cross promotion - with the appropriate partner and closely-related offer.

How do you make the most of your customer communications opportunities?

And then, how do you follow-up?

When handled correctly, necessary customer communications can create sales opportunities. To ensure that your content plan is designed to help you achieve your 2018 sales goals, contact us.

The CMO survey helps marketers benchmark their organizations and track trends over time.

Sales Renewal's insight:

Having the analytics is the first step, but unless you the time to consider the data alongside your growth strategy and compare how different tactics are performing, you have no insight.

Part of the value of working with an integrated marketing partner is TAKING THAT TIME TO THINK and consider your marketing program with perspective. Many of our clients tell us that perspective is the most valuable part of our partnership. Looking for a marketing partner in 2018? Let's get started.

Did you know that some 80% of New Year’s resolutions never see the light of February? That’s because they tend…

Sales Renewal's insight:

While these are all good goals, we thing the most important item is missing: GROW YOUR LIST. Collecting and adding email addresses to your newsletter lists is hardly an exhilarating task, but the return on (time) investment is TREMENDOUS. And, it can be exponential. Our advice: make list management a top priority this month. You'll be glad you did, all year long (and long after).

Google has expanded its Google Posts and is strongly encouraging use of Google My Business. And by "strongly encouraging" we mean, pretty much making it mandatory. If you care about how your customers find you online, and if you care about customer service...

What about customer service? As this SearchEngineLand article notes: "If you’ve ever looked up a local business online and drove all the way across town to their location only to find that they’ve moved, you know how frustrating that can be from a consumer perspective. When that happens, do you think they blame Google? Nope. They blame the business. And that consumer has just lost trust in the business."

The bottom line: Google offers a host of robust (and ubiquitous) tools for businesses. Take advantage of them - lest they be used against you.

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.